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Texas Utilities Code - Section 56.209. Recovery Of Costs

Legal Research Home > Texas Laws > Utilities Code > Texas Utilities Code - Section 56.209. Recovery Of Costs

§ 56.209. RECOVERY OF COSTS.  (a) If, after a hearing, the 
commission designates a telecommunications provider to serve the 
petitioning premises, the commission shall permit the designated 
provider to recover from the state universal service fund the 
provider's actual costs of providing service to the premises, 
including the provider's original cost of deployment and actual 
recurring costs.
	(b)  The reimbursable original cost of deploying facilities 
to the petitioning premises is the original cost of the 
telecommunications provider's facilities installed in, or upgraded 
to permit the provision of service to, the petitioning premises as 
determined by the financial accounting standards applicable to the 
provider, including an amount for the recovery of all costs that are 
typically included as capital costs for accounting purposes, that 
are not recovered through an aid to construction charge assessed to 
the petitioners.  The final order permitting or requiring the 
designated provider to provide service to the petitioning premises 
shall ensure that all the original cost of the provider shall be 
amortized and recovered from the state universal service fund, 
together with interest at the prevailing commercial lending rate:
		(1)  not later than the third anniversary of the date of 
the order, for a deployment with an original cost of $1 million or 
less;
		(2)  not later than the fifth anniversary of the date of 
the order, for a deployment with an original cost of more than $1 
million, but not more than $2 million;  and
		(3)  not later than the seventh anniversary of the date 
of the order, for a deployment with an original cost of more than $2 
million.
	(c)  The designated provider shall recover the provider's 
actual recurring costs of service, including maintenance and the 
ongoing operational costs of providing service after deployment of 
the facilities to the petitioning premises and a reasonable 
operating margin, from:
		(1)  the monthly rate charged the customer;  and                              
		(2)  a monthly per line state universal service fund 
payment in an amount equal to the unrecovered recurring costs 
incurred in providing service divided by the access lines served in 
the petitioning premises.
	(d)  The monthly per line fee established under Subsection 
(c) is in addition to the universal service funds associated with 
the recovery of the original cost of deployment and interest 
authorized by Subsection (b) and in addition to the universal 
service funds the designated provider receives to provide service 
in other areas of this state.
	(e)  The commission may not authorize or require any services 
to be provided to petitioning premises under this subchapter during 
a fiscal year if the total amount of required reimbursements of 
actual original cost of deployment to all approved petitioning 
premises under this section, together with interest, including 
obligations for reimbursements from preceding years, would equal an 
amount that exceeds 0.02 percent of the annual gross revenues 
reported to the state universal service fund during the preceding 
fiscal year.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 651, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.           

Last modified: August 11, 2007